


Against Medical Advice

by sainnis



Series: Medschool Boys [6]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-25
Updated: 2011-11-25
Packaged: 2017-12-05 08:18:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/720882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sainnis/pseuds/sainnis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sort of!canon.  Set right after Uryuu's near-fatal injury at the beginning of the Fullbring arc.</p><p>This is the sixth story in the Medschool Boys series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Against Medical Advice

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written for [](http://nehalenia.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://nehalenia.livejournal.com/)**nehalenia**.

Ichigo stood outside the hospital, watching his breath turn to steam in the freezing air. He was grateful for the cold; it made him sharp, more focused. He watched Ryuuken’s car—an expensive yet unremarkable model—turn out of the parking lot, and he waited until the tail lights disappeared before heading back into the hospital.

He took the stairs, wanting to feel the blood pumping through his veins instead of breathing the stale air of the elevator. Tracing his way back through the halls, he stopped in front of Uryuu’s room, stepping inside silently. When he didn’t hear Uryuu shouting at him from the other side of the curtain, he moved closer, only half hoping that Uryuu was asleep.

Hesitating for a moment, Ichigo took a breath and came around the curtain, looking down at the pale, wounded figure beneath the hospital sheets. He came closer, moving slowly until he found himself at Uryuu’s bedside. Ichigo gritted his teeth as he saw the bandages wrapped around Uryuu’s torso. God only knew how many stitches it had taken for Ryuuken to put him back together. IV lines snaked into each arm, one delivering sodium chloride and the other type AB blood. The monitor above Uryuu’s bed silently recorded his vital signs, digital proof of the Quincy’s stubborn will to survive.

He glanced down, and his gaze caught on the pale skin of Uryuu’s wrists against the stark white of the sheets. A tracery of blue veins appeared beneath the skin, almost like watercolor on canvas. His wrists looked delicate, nearly fragile, but Uryuu’s hands told another story. The fingers were long and calloused, the palms tough. If the light caught his fingertips just so, scars appeared, each thin as fishing line. They were beautiful.

A croaking voice startled Ichigo out of his reverie. “I told you to go.”

“You didn’t mean it.”

"My father told you to go."

"I don't take orders from him."

Uryuu’s fingers flexed, moving just a fraction in Ichigo’s direction. Ichigo sighed, and then gripped Uryuu’s hand, running his thumb over the knuckles. “I overheard your dad talking. He said you don’t remember anything.”

“Nothing useful.” Uryuu took a breath, and then winced, gritting his teeth. The monitor above the bed beeped once as Uryuu’s pulse increased.

“Didn’t your father give you pain meds?”

Uryuu nodded, his face a grimace. “There’s a morphine pump. Right there. Self-administering. All I have to do is press this button.” Uryuu lifted a small hand-held controller.

“So push the damn button.”

Uryuu scoffed. “I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.” Drops of sweat had formed along his hairline, his breathing fast.

“Don’t be so fucking stubborn. Your dad may be a dick, but he doesn’t want you to suffer.”

Uryuu stared up at Ichigo. “A Quincy can handle pain.”

“I know. But this isn’t some shitty Quincy test, and you need to cut yourself some freaking slack and push the goddamn button.” Ichigo reached across the bed with his free hand, reaching for the controller. “Let me do it.”

“No. It’s my fault I got hurt.” Uryuu’s eyes screwed shut, his knuckles white as he gripped the pump. “I was too slow. Too oblivious. Too weak.”

“It’s not.” Ichigo exhaled, smoothing a hand gently across Uryuu’s cheek. “You were targeted. You have the most honed spiritual senses of anyone I know, so this is clearly something we’ve never faced.” He squeezed Uryuu’s hand, giving him a cocky grin. “You’re only weak if you die.”

“Is this your special Kurosaki pep talk?”

Ichigo shrugged. “Pep talks are my weapon of choice, now that I can’t use a zanpaktou.”

Uryuu shook his head. “Are you seriously trying to get sympathy from me right now?”

“I was trying to use self-deprecating humor to distract you, so I could push the button and give you the dose of pain medicine you so desperately need.” Ichigo reached for the controller again. “You. Morphine. Together at last.”

Uryuu spoke through his teeth. “The pain’s not that bad.”

Ichigo scoffed. “You’re a terrible liar. That bastard practically gutted you. Give me the damn thing.“ Uryuu looked like he might refuse, and Ichigo spoke again. “It’s bad enough I can’t fix this. That I couldn’t protect you. Don’t make me watch you lie there in pain.”

Lips pursed, Uryuu finally relented. “Okay, okay. I’ll hit the button.” He lifted the controller, making a dramatic display of clicking it. “There. Happy?”

“That’s like, what, a drop of morphine? Try three clicks for a start, at least. They set these machines so you can’t OD, you know, so you might as well get your money’s worth.”

Uryuu sighed, shaking his head. “You are a terrible influence on me.” He clicked the controller twice more, and then settled back against the pillow. “I don’t feel any different.”

“It’s been about five seconds. Give it a chance.” Ichigo pulled over a rolling stool, sitting next to the bed. With their hands still clasped, Ichigo lifted Uryuu’s up, kissing his knuckles. “When your father called…I didn’t know what to think.”

“I’m surprised he did. It’s not like him to be that socially conscious. I didn’t think he even—oh, wait.” A strange expression appeared on Uryuu’s face, curving his lips just slightly. “I think I feel something.”

“Something good or bad?”

“Good, I think.” A slow smile spread over Uryuu’s face. “Wow. Okay.”

Uryuu’s entire body seemed to relax, and Ichigo noticed his heart rate beginning to slow, approaching something closer to normal. “Feeling better?”

Uryuu nodded very slowly, his smile still in place. He blinked at Ichigo, poking at his bandages with one hand. “It doesn’t really hurt as much now.”

“That’s good,” Ichigo said, waving off Uryuu’s fingers. “Leave your stitches alone, though.”

“Ichigo. Kurosaki Ichigo.” Uryuu held up the controller and clicked it a few more times. “I’m having more.” He then offered it to Ichigo. “You want some?”

“No thanks, I’m good.” Ichigo shook his head, trying not to laugh. He’d never seen Uryuu quite like this before.

“Everything is really good right now.” Uryuu pulled Ichigo’s hand to his mouth, kissing Ichigo’s wrist. “It’s really excellent. And I’m happy you’re here. I love when you’re here.” He grinned, the skin around his eyes crinkling faintly. “Don’t look so worried.”

Ichigo squeezed his hand. “I’ve just been concerned about you.”

“It’s no big deal. I just lost lots of blood. But then they put it back in, and it’s okay.” Uryuu pointed at his IVs. “See?”

Ichigo felt his stomach clench. “I wish I could have been there. I could have protected you.” He sighed. “Stupid fucking powers. I still can’t believe I lost them.”

Uryuu snorted. “You didn’t lose them.”

“Whatever. They’re still gone.”

“You’ll get them back.” Uryuu pointed at his own chest, though his Quincy star was obscured by his bandages. “It will probably be horribly painful to get them back. It might nearly kill you, but you’ll get them back.”

“That’s an optimistic view.”

“That’s what I’m saying. It’ll be fine.” Uryuu stared up at the ceiling, looking perplexed. “I’m floating.”

“You’re not. It just feels that way.”

“No, I definitely am.” He closed his eyes, his breathing deep and slow. “I miss you.”

Ichigo rubbed his thumb over the back of Uryuu’s hand. “I’m right here.”

“I mean I miss you. Being around. Being with me.” Uryuu’s eyes opened, and he stared at Ichigo. “Just because you don’t have powers doesn’t mean I don’t want to be with you.”

“I don’t think that.”

“You kind of do. And you should get over it.”

Ichigo winced, holding his breath for a moment and then releasing it in a sigh. “I miss you too.”

Uryuu stared at Ichigo’s mouth. “Are you going to kiss me?”

“I was, um, thinking about it.”

“Because I’m very high right now.”

“Yeah, I know.” He paused. “I probably shouldn’t take advantage of you when you’re like this.”

Uryuu tugged on his sleeve, grinning. “No, you definitely should.”

Kissing Uryuu when he was on morphine was similar to kissing drunk Uryuu, except without the too-sweet tang of the appletinis he preferred. Ichigo let the kiss linger, savoring it, not deterred at all by the strong scent of disinfectant that suffused Uryuu’s skin.

Uryuu’s mouth was hot and soft and Ichigo felt quite strongly that he could stay there for a very long time, until all of a sudden, the warmth disappeared as Uryuu pulled away. “Ichigo.”

“What?” Ichigo met his eyes, and then noticed that Uryuu was actually looking over Ichigo’s shoulder.

A quiet, gruff sound came from behind him, and Ichigo turned, startled to find Ryuuken standing in the doorway.

Ichigo tried to cover his surprise by clearing his throat, and then giving Ryuuken a nod. “Evening, Doctor Ishida.”

Ryuuken’s eyes, which were already the color of an iceberg, grew somehow even frostier. “Don’t you have somewhere you’re supposed to be, Kurosaki Ichigo?”

“With all due respect, sir, I didn’t want to leave your son alone while you were gone.”

Ryuuken removed his glasses, cleaning them on the hem of his white coat. “How exactly did you intend to protect Uryuu?””

“I may not have powers at the moment, sir, but I still know how to fight.”

Uryuu’s hand reached up, touching Ichigo’s arm. “It’s okay. I’ll be okay,” Uryuu said softly.

Ryuuken took a step closer, examining Uryuu’s vital readouts. “So you got him to take the morphine. Such a stubborn child. He never listens.”

Ichigo nodded, giving Uryuu’s hand a final squeeze, and then moving away from the bed. “Whatever you think of me,” he said, turning to Ryuuken, “you should know I intend to fight on his behalf. Shingami or not, I will protect him, in the same way he has protected me. Sir.” Ichigo walked towards the door. “I will get my powers back. And I will find the person who did this to Uryuu, and when I do, I will kill them. Until then, I trust you will care for him.”

“He will heal more quickly without distraction, Kurosaki Ichigo.”

“Thank you.” Ichigo nodded one more time, and then gave Uryuu a grin before leaving the room. He slipped his hand into his pocket, his fingers closing around the black business card, and then moved out silently into the night.


End file.
